1. In a saucepan, combine quinoa and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil and simmer about 10 minutes. Let quinoa cool.

2. In a bowl, combine half the lentils, bread crumbs, egg, garlic, cumin, cilantro, lemon juice, cooked quinoa, and salt and pepper to taste. Place in a food processor or blender; process until well combined. Add remaining lentils and walnuts; pulse until they’re incorporated. Form into 6 patties.

Like this:

Yes, I thought it was a movie too. That shows home much of a “not-a-cook” I really am, right? Well here is another recipe from my class at Cook that proved to me it was first a chunky type of soup not the name of a rat.

I used my Groupon for a cooking lesson at COOK in Ashburn, Virginia. Since I have been Pescatarian (Vegetarian with fish and egg allowances) for about two years, I really wanted to learn a few more veggie dishes that weren’t too hard to make so I chose the “Veggie Tales” class.

No, I wasn’t lucky enough to find myself living the scene in Hereafter with Matt Damon as my cooking partner so I said yes to each glass of wine they offered throughout the night. And, somehow, I managed to make some pretty good dishes and get home by 930p (geez – I should not be proud of that haha).

Our first recipe was the Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad. The tomatoes should be roasted for 2 hours so the chef, Lucy Ritter, pre-roasted them for us before we arrived to speed things up for us. It was a simple and very tasty dish that I plan to make again tonight as I’m writing this blog post. The picture doesn’t do the dish justice but one of my table partners was a bit of a bossy-knows-everything-about-cooking-and-you-must-need-me-to-tell-you-what-to-do-because-you-obviously-can’t-think-for-yourself kinda person so I was a bit distracted by her. I only put a small amount balsamic dressing on my tomatoes before I snapped the picture.

Wash potatoes with cold water and dry on paper towels. Place on small baking sheet; set aside.

In a small bowl, stir together the olive oil, rosemary essential oil, and lavender essential oil; set aside.

Mince garlic well and sprinkle with a bit of the sea salt. Cream the garlic into a smooth paste by using the side of your chef’s knife and pressing the garlic against the cutting board; the salt will act as an abrasive.

Scrape up garlic and stir into the oil. Drizzle 2 teaspoons of the oil over the potatoes and season with remaining salt and pepper.

Toss potatoes on baking sheet until well coated. Roast in preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.

Remove from oven and toss with the remaining teaspoon of oil and finely chopped parsley before serving.

Over medium heat add oil (for every six potatoes)Add ginger, Serrano pepper, cumin (should be making popping noises). You will know it is done because the cumin slightly increases in size.Add peas, spices (carom, garam masala, mango powder, chatt masala, chili powder, coriander, salt) and potatoes (add them last so they can soak up the flavor)Mix and cookAdd cilantro and turn off heat/gasAdd the juice of ¼ of a lemon or lime(It is important not to over stir because the peas get squished)

Use veggie oil to cover the bottom of the pan and heat to medium-lowAdd cumin (if the oil is too hot it will crackle and turn black)Add garlic, red onions and cook for about a minute (they have been cooked too long if they are clear)Add chili powder, Garam Masala, and spinach mix and sauté Remove from the heat and allow to coolThen add feta, salt and ½ of the juice from a lime

Dough #1 (Pepperidge Farm Sheet Dough)Cut into a rectangle (sometimes you will have to roll it)Cut it into smaller rectangles (don’t forget that it is ok to stretch)Make the dough into a cone and add the stuffingClose it up and use a fork to score the edges Set the oven to 400 degrees and bake for 10-12 minutes

Dough # 2 (Filo Dough)Must keep the dough under a damp paper towelFollow the folding instructions and use water to seal the edgesOnce they are stuffed, put them under damp paper towelsFill a pan with vegetable oil and heat on medium (the oil is hot enough when a tiny ball of dough is dropped in and makes a popping noise and immediately rises to the top)Gently place the samosa in the oil and wait 2-3 minutes (until the edges are brown)Take out and place on a plate covered with a paper towel

Add flour, cream of wheat, ghee and ¼ a cup water directly into the blenderBlend while slowly adding the rest of the waterAdd carom seedsWhen the dough is in a ball remove from the blenderSlowly split the dough in half until you have 16 equal piecesRoll each ball into a circle and cut in half (the edges should be thinner than the centerFold and stuffFollow the above instructions for cooking while remembering that home made dough takes longer to cook!

1) In a pressure cooker add spinach, chana dal, diced onions,chili, tomatoes, ginger and garlic clove with little water. Cook it till 1 whistle. DO NOT OVER COOK.2) Once cooled mash the mixture with hand mixer. Keep it aside.3) In kadhai heat oil and temper it with cumin. 4) Add chopped onions. Saute till transparent. 5) Pour the palak mixture on heated oil and jeera.6) Add garam masala and cook for another 2 min.7) Add fried paneer and salt8) Finish the recipe with adding heavy cream and chopped coriander9) Once the flame is turned off sprinkle few drops of lime juice to give the extra touch

Recipe :1) In pan heat 1tbsp oil and saute chopped garlic, ginger and green chilies2) Saute all the veggies except potatoes starting with carrot and cabbage since it takes longer to cook.3) Add all the dry masalas and let it cook for a min.4) Add constarch 5) Add salt and mashed potatoes.6) Turn off the heat and then add lemon juice.7) Once the stuffing is cooled down make cutlets in any shape you like, most popular is ‘HEART’8) Coat each cutlet with either semolina or breadcrumbs and shallow fry till golden brown.9) Garnish with salad leaves and onion rings and serve with Green chutney or tomato ketchup.You can add any other veggies of your choice like grated zuccini,spinach, even arugula.